2016 International Workshop at Ringberg Castle

The scientific theme of the 2016 International Workshop at Ringberg Castle was ‘Interfaces’ and, as expected, the speakers gave an excellent set of talks that covered many interpretations and extensions of the theme. Fascinating results on the beneficial (and detrimental) effects of interfaces in materials for batteries, thermoelectric devices, solar cells and superconductors were presented. Detailed studies of natural composite materials gave insight into ways to approach the design of inorganic-organic layered structures to maximize strength and toughness. The self-assembling behaviour of organic particles was demonstrated to be one effective route to forming such layered materials. There were also interesting and practical talks on advancing TEM methods; the benefits of distortion correction, pixelated detectors and hybrid holography were convincingly presented. To round out the program, talks on nanotubes, 2D materials, gold and even steel reminded us of both the versatility of advanced electron microscopy and the wide-ranging curiosity of microscopists.Take a closer look at the Ringberg Castle: Ringberg Castle - Lake Tegernsee (Bavaria, Germany).